Group rallies to save facade of Stockton’s historic Empire Theatre along Miracle Mile

A group of about 20 people held up signs, chanted and urge passing motorists to honk their horns during Monday morning rally aimed at saving some portion of the historic Empire Theatre along the Miracle Mile in Stockton.

The theater was heavily damaged in an early morning five-alarm fire on Friday. A large portion of the building was gutted by the blaze and a portion of the roof collapsed. In the afternoon, after the fire was extinguished, engineers decided that the structure’s west wall at the back of the building was unsafe. The city and Fire Department decided to demolish the wall before if collapsed on its own, potentially damaging neighboring buildings. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Sights of the partial demolition of the building prompted some to rally in support of saving some portion of the old theater's facade.

“We're here because we wanted to show that there’s a community-wide love and support for this building that’s a historical landmark that’s been here since 1945,” organizer Orion Camero of Placeholder magazine, said.

“Since 1945 this building has been here and it’s nurtured so many generations of Stocktonians and so we wanted to show that this is a significant place that a lot of people love and care about," he said.

“We kind of have the thought that, because that his is such an iconic image that we find some way to preserve it, either in a way that keeps it as a future cultural space that could be built here in our community or just keep a memento of our history."